Lady Vols power past Western Carolina

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Lauren Gibson and Raven Chavanne each went 3-for-4 and five different Lady Vols tallied two RBIs to motor No. 6/5 Tennessee past Western Carolina, 11-2, in five frames on Monday at Lee Stadium.

Tennessee (30-6) plated five in the first, four in the second and two in the fourth to bounce back from a strong two-run first for Western Carolina (11-25).

Gibson was 3-for-4 with two RBIS and two runs and stole a base. Chavanne was 3-for-4 with a triple and two runs. Madison Shipman hit two doubles and posted two RBIs and two runs. Melissa Davin drove in two runs and had a stolen base. Melissa Brown also tallied two RBIs in the win.

Cheyanne Tarango (4-1) threw five strong innings with four strikeouts and two earned runs allowed to earn her fourth win of the season.

Taylor Sigmon (0-9) took the loss after allowing six runs (four earned) in one inning of work. Jordan Garrett allowed five earned runs over three relief frames.

Western Carolina struck first, plating a pair of runs in the top of the first when Shemekia Scotton hit a two-RBI single with two outs.

UT responded with five runs in the bottom of the first to take command of the game. Chavanne scored the first run of the game when Sigmon threw an illegal pitch while Chavanne was on third. The game was tied 2-2 when Shipman clubbed an RBI double to left field to score Gibson from third. Tarango drew a five-pitch walk and Davin reached on a throwing error by the third baseman in the next at-bat, scoring Tarango and Shipman. Brown followed with an RBI groundout to second to push UT's lead to 5-2.

The Lady Vols poured on four more runs in the bottom of the fourth. Chavanne led off the inning with a triple to right center and Gibson brought her in with an RBI single up the middle. Three batters later, Davin connected for a two-RBI single up the middle to extend UT's lead to 8-2. Brown drove in another run with a sacrifice fly to left field.

Tennessee rounded out its scoring in the bottom of the fourth. With the bases loaded, Gibson hit an RBI single to left field. Shipman was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring in the Lady Vols' 11th run of the game.

The Lady Vols will next host Tennessee State on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Kids 12 and under get in for free and all adult reserved bleacher seats are just $1.

Online Public Information File

Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or fccinfo@fcc.gov.